Heat Haze Days
by Beiowulf
Summary: "What are you doing here?" You asked. "I don't know," I said blankly and frowned because it was the honest truth. "I was just wandering around looking for something to do. This fricking heat is killing me." I sighed and raised my shoulders, continuing to prove a point. "I don't even remember what day it is." Based on the song. M for gore.
1. Chapter 1

**12:32 in the Afternoon**

It was amazing the affect heat had on the city. Steam rose from the roadways, buildings shimmered in the rays of the sun, and cars honked at each other almost grouchily as their engines overheated and died. The people were grouchy then too; elbows shoved and voices grumbled as I pushed through the streets, spitting sweat off my lips and squinting upwards at the sun.

There'd been a massive heat wave affecting the city for days. When I was at home I'd sit blankly in front of the fan, watching my mother frantically washing dishes with a half-gallon of water. It was always too hot to do much outside, but I'd already exhausted my indoor summer break resources. I'd mastered fifteen different yo-yo tricks, memorized all the newest songs, defeated Ganondorf three times, and discovered once again that on the thousands of TV channels there was nothing to watch.

Thus I was pushed out of my house, forced to wander the streets in search of some form of entertainment. The sun beat down on me too hard; I could feel the skin under my hair burning and crinkling. Disgruntled, I ducked under a tree, wandering into the shade of a park. My eyes glanced lazily around as the boredom inside me grew greater and greater, rising up against the wave of lethargy that kept me rooted to the spot.

I was so glad when I saw you.

You were idly swaying on the swing, your arms wrapped around yourself, a small smile on your face. The shine of the light on your golden hair almost burned my eyes as I looked at you. You were a classmate of mine that year, a friend, and although it would not have been my first choice to hang out with a girl in the park for fun, I liked you more than most other people in my class and anything was better than just standing under a tree all day.

"Rin." You turned and smiled widely as I sat down on the swing next to you, the metal seat burning my skin for a moment. Something moved in your arms and I glanced down, noting a small black cat nestled against your skin. It seemed very content there, staring at me with smug eyes, almost as if it knew something I didn't. '_Hah hah,'_ It seemed to say. '_She's hugging me and not you.' _

"Hey Piko," you responded, drawing my attention away from the feline. "What are you doing here?" I stretched out my arms and then wrapped them around the chains, feeling how quickly the cool iron became hot and sticky with my sweat.

"I don't know," I said blankly and frowned because it was the honest truth. "I was just wandering around looking for something to do. This fricking heat is killing me." I sighed and raised my shoulders, continuing to prove a point. "I don't even remember what day it is." You laughed and shifted the cat into one arm while you reached into a pocket of your sundress, pulling out a phone and showing it to me.

"It's August 15th," you said as the screen lit up, showing the date and time. "About 12:30." A weight dropped in my chest and I threw my head back, glaring up at the sticky sun again.

"That means school's going to start soon." I wriggle my fingers in and out of the links of the chains and kicked at the ground with my feet. "Summer's almost over and I haven't even done anything." You chuckled again and slid the phone back into your pocket, holding tight to the cat again.

"Yeah, I actually don't like summertime that much." You pushed at the ground with one foot and sent your swing into motion for a moment. I stared down at our shoes in the dirt, raising my eyes as the kicked up dust rose higher and higher into the hazy sky. "You have so much time but never want to do anything. It seems like such a waste." You pursed your lips and came to a stop. The cat emitted an uncomfortable sound and glared at me, seeming to blame my arrival for all the unwanted motion impressed upon it. I gave the cat the finger.

"Who's pet is that?" The feline ruffled its coat and sat up in your lap, seeming rather affronted.

"I guess it's just a stray," you responded, sticking your tongue out at my rude gesture. "I found it roving around."

I snorted. "Because parents always tell you to pet stray animals." With a 'humph' you stood, cuddling said animal and backed away into the shade. I jumped up with a yell and followed you, finding welcome relief in the tree covered walkway you strolled down. You looked at me reproachfully.

"Sure you don't wanna run? I play with wild things. You might catch something." I snorted again, bumping shoulders with you in what I hoped was a friendly way.

"Nah, I'll risk it. Besides, there's a vet down the street from my house." We laughed, the sounds of teenage friends joking echoing down the street. The cat meowed once and stretched it paws out, jumping away. It seemed to have had enough of this human nonsense.

You gave a gasp and dashed down the walkway after it. It trotted nonchalantly along, just out of your reach and I watched amusedly as you ran into bushes and trees after its retreating tail. I caught up with you as the trail connected back onto the main street, the cobblestones turning again into sidewalk. You were glancing around erratically, calling out random feline names in an attempt to get the cat to come to you.

A black head stuck itself out from underneath a bench and bounded away over the crosswalk like he knew what it was there for. "There!" you squealed with delight and turned in its direction taking a step onto the heated asphalt.

A wind blew by at that moment, taking the edge of the heat but bringing with it grit and dust and the smell of burning fuel. I blinked my eyes as they watered and focused again on the road. The heat grew back again, hotter, and in less than an instant. Your back was to me, just a few feet in front of me in the crosswalk. I stood on the edge of the sidewalk and felt my eyes rise and my hand shoot out as the crossing light suddenly blinked red.

That wind was a mere forewarning of the gush of air the truck was about to bring as it barreled past, tugging along the smell of exhaust and fire. The driver didn't slow, they didn't have time to. They just pushed on past and came to a stop a block down, seeming to realize something was wrong.

My eyes were closed against it all, but I could feel something. A warmth, something hotter than the stifling air, resting against my legs, my hand, a drop on my cheek. I could feel it, I could smell it. My lids opened, the light seeming too bright for a moment, and then seeming to reveal too much.

I could see the places where your bones stuck out, pushed out of place on impact. The skin there had stretched and tore, now hanging around the exposed white in tattered strands. Even as I watched blood poured out of you like a water balloon with holes, draining in rivulets that seemed to bubble and boil across the scorched tar, sending to scent up and around. Your face was tilted away, your smashed hands splayed out towards the cat sitting contentedly on the other side of the road, your knuckles broken like Christmas chestnuts.

I didn't hear your scream until long after it had dissipated, echoing in my mind with each drip of blood off my skin, sprayed with your body fluid. The smell of it wafted up into my nostrils, confusing me with how similar it was to your smell yet so different. So different.

My breath caught in my throat, the airway that used to be there seeming like something I had only read about. Words? What are words? How do I breathe again? I wanted to close my eyes but I couldn't, couldn't tear myself away from the image of you lying there broken, smashed, bones protruding and joints bent backwards, skin peeled and sizzling on the hot blacktop.

The world continued strangely around us, cars still passing by on nearby streets, the cat pawing at a buzzing fly, the sound of crickets chirping in the trees we came from. There were people around me, telling me to back away, to look away, but I couldn't, because that bloodied thing on the ground was you, you who had been standing next to me not ten seconds ago. I couldn't understand it. It couldn't be real, all my logic screamed at me that it wasn't, but all my senses laughed that it was. That you were over there and I was over here and that this was real.

It was all real. The wind and the scream and the blood and the heat and the people and the cars and the crickets chirping like nothing was wrong. It was all real.

* * *

**A/N: **Don't talk to me about the Kagerou Project and how this doesn't fit in with it, blah, blah, blah. I wanted to write this idea before I even knew the Kagerou Project existed. And now I do know it, but it's confusing. Amazing and beautiful and awesome, but _damn_ confusing. Not even gonna try to write that one.

This is my first time writing something this, uh, graphic. Feedback? Too much? Too little? Does it seem fake or are you throwing up?


	2. Chapter 2

**12:41 in the Afternoon**

I almost didn't realize I had woken up. Softly the scene around me changed from sunstroke-ridden asphalt to cotton sheets laid lightly on top me. My eyes opened, the view changing from a darkened blue sky to the light of the sun streaming across my ceiling. I blinked once, taking a shuttering breath, and unclenched my hands where I had tangled them in the blankets.

I moved my gaze to the sky outside, a cloudless and searing blue. The sun was high in the sky which did nothing to help my disorientation. With muscles that feel heavy as if I had been running I turn to my clock, trying to grasp some sense of time and space. The red numbers stare at me, blank and informative, but bringing back memories of flashes of another crimson color.

_8/15, 12:04 PM_

I sighed, hastily writing off the image of you holding a phone out to me as a fruitless vision of the night. My hand wandered absentmindedly up towards my face, brushing across my cheek as if to be certain that nothing was there. I drew it away, finding no stain spreading across my fingers. I sighed again, but somehow my chest still felt tight, like I would never be able to breathe out enough.

Shaking my head, I fell back onto my pillow and watched rays of sun bounce mercilessly off of tin rooftops across my neighborhood. My ears tried to focus on the sounds of birds and traffic, but somehow, despite the distance that comes with consciousness, the sounds from my dream were still echoing as if I had heard them only seconds ago.

* * *

Finding my home life boring, I wandered out into the streets, surprised at the fact that I was expecting to do such. The smog of civilization wafted around me as I strolled from my house to the main street, glancing around for something to do. I turned a corner and suddenly found the sun too hot, seeking shelter under a nearby tree. Facing away from the brightness of the street my eyes refocused to the dimmer light and then widened.

A ways off was you, holding a lazily mewing cat in your arms as you swung back and forth, your feet kicking up dust as they met the ground. A smile was spread across your face and you tucked your hair behind one ear. I didn't notice myself calling out your name but you turned and saw me, your smile growing larger and waving.

I stepped over on uneasy feet, my hands jammed into my pockets. The seat meeting my bottom felt like fire, just as a hazy memory recalled. "Hey Piko," you said. "Why are you here?" I shrugged half-heartedly, staring off a ways.

"I don't know. I was just wandering." My fingers poked into the holes in-between the links of the chains, seeing how far they could go in before it started to hurt. There was a nagging at the back of my mind, absurd but insistent, and drying up my throat the longer I kept quiet.

"Today _is _August 15th, right?" You cocked your head and I watched as you shifted the cat into one arm, complaining loudly, and pulled out a phone.

"August 15th, 12:28 PM." You pocketed it again and wrapped your fingers once more around the feline. "Why? Is today important?"

I shrugged again, feeling silly and stuttering on my next words. "N-no, I just had a dream, last night I mean, that it was today and we were in this park together." I scratched my head, not meeting you in the eye. "I don't know…I've heard that dreams can be predictive…"

You smirked at the comment and lifted the cat to your face like some kind of furry mask. "Oh Piko, if you were having _those_ kind of dreams about me you could've just said so." I instantly turned a bright red and began refuting the statement though we both knew it was more likely than not true. I had asked you to the end of the year dance in 4th grade and although I wasn't sure myself where my feelings laid when it came to you, there was a reasonable bit of suspicion that our accidental meetings outside of classes might have been unconsciously purposeful.

The cat's ears went back at my bewildered expression and the shaking of your chest as you laughed. With an irritable hiss it jumped out of your arms and trotted off down a side path, the area shaded by trees. You stood before I had a chance to stop you and were bounding after it, your heavy steps frightening it and causing a mad dash down the walkway.

My heart thundered in my chest, too loud to ignore, and I found myself pelting after you, pushing faster and harder. My hand reached out grazing along the skin of your arm before getting a firm grasp. I closed my grip around it tightly and yanked you back, breath now coming fast. You scowled at me in confusion and the cat bounded across the street just a few feet ahead. I heard your voice talking to me, questioning, but I wasn't listening. All my attention was focused on the truck that speed by, just barely catching it's light as it changed to green.

You must have seen something in my expression, because you stopped talking after a moment, just looked at me almost anxiously. I loosened my grip, but not before pulling you back in the opposite direction. "…Let's get out of here." You blinked once but shrugged and followed me back through the park and onto the road I had entered from.

I shook off – or at least tried to – the resemblance of reality with nightmare and dredged up a conversation. "So, how has your summer been going?" It was a lame question, but you answered it with ease, your eyes strangely far off and wondering. You told me of camps and sleepovers and movies you had watched. You even told me of the dare of one of your friends - go up to the creepy guy at the gas station and ask to pet his mustache – and how you actually did it. We were laughing lightly, strolling down the roadway, my hands slowly stopping shaking. "It sounds like you've been having a good time."

You stopped abruptly, still eyeing and smiling straight ahead, but your eyebrows crinkling slightly as if thinking back on something painful. You looked at me after a second, standing next to you in confusion, and then walked speedily ahead, your arms swaying. Your voice drifted back, bright and airy, "Yeah, but I still don't like summer," and you turned, smiling, as screams erupted from everyone around us.

My eyes couldn't follow the pole fast enough as it fell through the air, slicing a black line across the brutally hot sky. You didn't seem to register anything as it skewered you, sticking through your stomach and out your back like a demented merry-go-round horse. For just a split second my eyes drifted upwards, taking in the sight of horrified construction workers, screaming at each other for being so careless, before they came back to you again.

In just that second a pool of red had formed around your feet, supported by blood-streaked shaking legs. A spray of gore spread out from the unnatural scene in front of me, branching out in every direction like a compass rose of the underworld. I took a step forward, but found myself unable to go farther as your mouth opened, trying to say something, but nothing but wet gurgling noises came out.

A snake twisted and turned in my stomach, biting at my insides and poisoning my heart as you slid down the pole, leaving a trail of flesh strung behind you, the sound of bone against metal occasionally shattering the air. Your hands reached out to prop yourself up off the ground but quickly collapsed and left you leaning on your elbows, wheezing pants echoing around the intersection, mixing with the everyday sounds of wind chimes and people's voices.

I didn't feel my knees as they hit the ground, didn't hear myself as I screamed, didn't really notice how the sharp blue of the sky and mocking stain of red faded away and became nothing more than a shadow. The only thing I saw before everything went black was you, leaning weakly on one elbow as your life drained out, the blue eyes that were fixed on me slowly losing light as the mouth below it curled into a bitter smile.

* * *

**A/N: **Ah! First day of summer vacation! What am I going to do with myself for the next forever? ('Cause you know, that's how long summer feels when you're my age)

I liked the way this turned out. This is a pretty fun fic to write.

In a weird sadistic way :-/...


	3. Chapter 3

**12:50 in the Afternoon**

The ticking of my clock was mocking me as my room faded back into my consciousness, my covers pulled around me just as before, my hands clutching them in the exact same places. Outside once again it was horribly sunny, a miasma wafting off surfaces that had been in the light for too long. My head turned sideways, straining against the stiffness of false sleep to glance at the clock. I hit it, shook it, and even watched for a minute to make sure it was still working. But it still took a check of my phone to convince me that the time was correct.

_8/15, 12:04PM_

My hands ran through my hair, cooling the sweat that was gathered there. My heart thundered in my chest, working its frantic shaking out through my fingertips as I pulled on clothes and tied up my laces. I was running out my door, racing the seconds ticking off of the day, a darkness creeping up from the corners of my mind and jolting every step forward.

Crosswalk lights wouldn't change fast enough; there were too many people in the streets; it took too long for me to reach the park where I came across the scene I expected. I stopped to breathe, leaning against a tree, watching you warily. Your smile seemed painted, like a screenshot of a cheesy anime. As I walked forward and you greeted me I could predict your words, the intonations of them. After all, you had said them twice before.

"Hey Piko." The recording-like welcome was like a blow to the gut. "What are you doing here?"

I didn't sit this time. I stood in front of her and hesitantly reached out a hand to pat the cat in her lap, hoping to find some calming of my nerves in the action. "I was looking for you." Your eyes widened and looked down slightly, the slightest bit of red appearing on your cheeks.

"O-Oh? Why's that?"

Any other time I would have been mortified, backtracking my meaning and leaving at the first chance I could get. I was ignorant to it all though in the heat of the moment, just picked the cat up and set it on the ground, shooing it away, and trying to keep a mask of calm on top of my panicking mind. "I think we should spend the day together," I said, a plan forming. I helped you up and you looked at me curiously, a hint of something else in the set of your mouth. "Somewhere away from here."

You glanced longingly after the cat as it trotted down the wooded path, but I pulled you along with me back to the main street, keeping you close despite your protesting. I stopped us after a short ways at a bus station, watching down the path and noting the building under construction a few blocks away. You were fidgeting and I could feel your fingers drumming against the back of my hand. Your hand was in my hand and we were waiting for a bus to go spend the day together somewhere. It hit me like a train and my eyes quickly darted over to you, blushing red like a tomato, your other hand curled into a tight fist. I couldn't tell whether you were frightened or pleased by this turn of events.

The bus pulled up before any words could pass between us, an explanation, a warning, a stutter, and I pulled you onboard, tossing a few bills to the driver. We sat, the seats facing the center aisle where poles stood to hold onto when the compartment was crowded. There were only a few other people around us, busily reading newspapers or texting on their phones. You fiddled next to me, your hand still intertwined with mine. I nonchalantly untangled it to reach out for a brochure nearby, displaying a map of the city.

I felt your breath on my neck as you leaned over, looking over the display of roads and intersections spreading out across the page. "Where are we going?" I shrugged my shoulders, mind racing and eyes tracing the routes for a seemingly safe place. You pointed to a destination, a new café, and looked up at me wonderingly. I smiled nervously in response and folded up the map, placing it back where I found it. The café was on the other side of town; we would have a bit of a ride ahead of us.

You leaned back in your seat, exhaling and closing your eyes, long lashes falling down your cheeks. I watched, feeling paranoid, to make sure that some venomous spider or something didn't crawl out of the seat cushions and bite you. I told myself I was being silly, but I didn't really believe it. I didn't know what was going on, what kind of strange alternate-reality nightmare this was, but I knew that whatever it was it was trying to repeat itself, and in whatever way possible.

"What are you looking at?" Your voice wasn't reproachful, just curious, and it made me realize that I had been staring at you the entire time while my thoughts reeled through my mind. I was about to shrug it off, say I was zoned out, but something in your expression made me want to speak, and speak the truth. Or what part of it I could figure.

"I'm just worried about you." You blinked, not seeming surprised at all. After a moment you turned around in your seat, opening the window above us, and readjusting yourself so that you were facing me, your legs pulled to your chest. All around the other passengers followed suit, seeming to remember that windows existed and that opening them may lessen the stifling mugginess inside.

"I'm worried about you." The reply was in a flat tone, sounding matter-of-fact and calm despite the strange look in your eyes. My gaze caught with yours and wouldn't budge. I stared down deep into the depths of your pupils and found something there, something I didn't have time to analyze before the bus gave a high-pitched blare and everything jerked sideways.

When my head stopped spinning I was laying on the windows, the other patrons scattered haphazardly around the flipped compartment. The vehicle was almost completely on its side, against the side of the road and supported only a few inches by the rubble of trash cans and trees it had crashed into. My ears were ringing – the result of the screech of the crash – but I looked around frantically, my eyes quickly landing on your blue ones, upside down and stretched wide with shock.

During the jolt of impact you must have gone airborne because you were looking back at me from outside the window, one foot still dangling inside, practically crushed between the bus and the street. I extended a hand to you, but suddenly the room spun and I found myself falling to the ground again, fingers probing my throbbing skull. Kneeling on the broken glass and metal windowpanes I felt something wet and cold begin to seep across the ground, soaking my pants in seconds. I pushed away dizziness and glanced up again, struggling forward and banging on the glass separating me from you; the one pane too stubborn to break.

With one arm pinned under a dislocated tire and most of your body squashed against the pavement, your head resting lowest, you couldn't move as water began to pour from an erupted fire hydrant, busted from the crash. It trickled towards the bus, filling the cranny between it and the ground and eventually finding ways out through twisted metal and broken rubble, but not fast enough. Not as fast as it was filling.

I could feel myself yelling although I couldn't hear it, pounding against the window at the sight of you, drowning just an inch away from air. You didn't shut your eyes as water mixed with grit and traces of tar filled the space around your face, your neck, your shoulders. Your one free foot kicked wildly for a second, but then stilled and proceeded to only clench around the edge of the window frame, the way a child squeezes their mother's hand as they get an injection.

You held your breath as long as you could, your expression a mask of calm hiding a hint of terror and grief, but eventually your lungs burst and you took a breath, filling yourself with icy cold water that your body had no idea what to do with. I saw you cough and pounded harder, slamming the broken arm of a seat into the pane. Your eyes stared back at me, wide and glassy, as you took another gulp of water and it caught in your throat, coming out with a shower of bubbles. I could faintly hear myself now, the rhythmic thump of my tool against the glass as you continued looking at me, mouthing something in-between bursts of bubbles and gasps of water. Your mouth stopped halfway through a word and I screamed and heard it. Lowering my hands and looking away from the eyes that saw nothing, I wasn't surprised when the edges of my vision turned to black, filtering inwards until my only awareness was the sound of trickling water.

* * *

**A/N: **Obviously this wasn't in the song, but I thought it was a pretty interesting way to die all the same. Reviews please!

I'm going camping right now - like literally, I'm walking out the door - so i'll get your messages but I won't be able to write anymore until Friday. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**12:56 in the Afternoon**

I woke up sitting bolt upright, my throat still sore from screaming. My legs tingled from where cold water had wetted them just a second ago, suddenly vanishing and rewinding just like everything else about that scene. The image of your wide glassy stare haunted me from behind my lids as I jumped out of bed, hastily pulling on a jacket and a mismatched pair of shoes. I didn't even look at the clock; I knew what it would say.

I ran through the streets again, using back roads when I knew there would be jams on the main, even jay-walking in an attempt to get to the park faster, faster, so that I might see you and think of something before it's too late. I reached the trees without breaking stride once, not noticing my lungs as they screamed for air. You raised a hand in greeting but gasped as I grabbed it and kept running, the cat jumping away from us with an annoyed yowl.

"Ah, Piko!" you shouted and stumbled to keep up. "What's going on? Where are we going?"

"I don't know!" I shouted back, my voice cracking as the desperation in the words leaked out. _I don't know. I don't know. I don't know._ But I kept running until we had moved out of the heart of the city, into the sleepy suburbs, and my legs collapsed under me, aching and burning with lactic acid.

You brushed hair out of your face, fixing bangs back into place with a barrette, and leaned down next to me. Head tilted almost worriedly you put a hand on my back, heaving with every breath, and patted it awkwardly. "You okay?"

_No. No I'm not. How could I be okay? How could anything be okay?_ I exhaled and leaned back, supporting myself with my hands against the heated concrete. "Yeah, I'm fine." You still stared at me, not angry for running off with you or exasperated with me, but with concern and a faint hint of sadness. You weren't looking at me like I had lost it, which was probably the most reasonable suspicion in this situation. I was beginning to think it myself.

With effort I pulled myself up and offered a hand down to you, which you took embarrassedly. I could feel a little flutter in my chest at the action and the memory of yesterday – the last time, the today before this one, whatever I should call it – when we had embarked out on what could be considered the beginning of a date, but pushed all those feelings down. Now was not the time to focus on such unessential luxuries such as those. All the same I pulled you slightly closer to me, finding the closure of space enjoyable, but also in an effort to keep you out of harm's way. Perhaps if I was right next to you I could fend off whatever would try to happen today.

_But there will always be something else, won't there?_

I started walking, focusing on each step that I took, pulling you along close to me. You didn't make much of a sound, just followed me, hand tight in mine, looking down at the ground the whole way. As soon as my breath came back I picked up the pace, speeding through the streets with a flustered sort of vengeance, my eyes scanning everything nearby, every person that passed by, jumping whenever a car passed. I felt ridiculous, getting tense over a squirrel that chittered in a nearby tree, but all the same couldn't help it.

As the sun rose higher into the sky and heated up the surroundings even more I could feel my head spinning and my throat burning. Glancing back you seemed to be in much the same condition. Heat exhaustion; running around a city in the middle of summer did that to people. We needed to rest, but the very idea of stopping terrified me. What if you fell asleep and never woke up? What if while we were sitting down on a bench some kid playing baseball sent a ball flying too far and too hard and it hit your head in just the right spot? Scenarios burst through my mind, each more bizarre than the last, but all possible, all possible, and that's all that mattered.

You gave a shuttering sigh.

Dangerous or not, we needed to rest.

I lead us into the shade, walking slower and looking for the most friendly-looking place around. Café? A stove will catch on fire. Bank? Someone will try to rob it and she'll be used as the hostage. You watched as I gazed round and round, desperation showing in my expression, my stance, and you squeezed my hand. "There's a shrine up ahead, you know."

I turned to you. A shrine? It's unlikely that anything would happen there. In fact, it's almost _impossible._ Supposedly they're even sheltered from evil spirits in those places. My mind wanders over that fact. Is that what this is? Some kind of curse?

"Where to?" You point ahead, taking a slight lead. We travel a few blocks, staying under the shade of ever thickening trees, until we arrive at a small pocket of nature. The asphalt roads changed to gravel, the houses becoming spaced apart. The sounds of traffic and civilization were left almost completely behind us, just a soft whisper through the trees.

Taking a final turn I spotted the entrance to the sanctuary; a flight of stone stairs leading up a small hill. With a sigh I picked up the pace, ignoring the aching in my legs and pulling you along to the bottom. They weren't too long, although I would've much rather not have had to go up them, and at the top just the roof of the tallest building was visible. A gate stood study at the top of the flight, painted a shiny red and reflecting in the heat.

"Let's go," I whispered and started upwards, still grasping onto you. I didn't turn around but heard the sound of two pairs of feet tracking up the stone, two breaths gasping for oxygen in the sticky air. I could see the ever increasing stretch of the shrine, becoming more and more visible with every step. There was a nice patch of grass just under a tree. We could sit there in the shade and observe the scenery, looking out over the sun-struck city. It would be calm, quiet, unlike the sounds of traffic and people and gasping behind me.

I suddenly felt your fingers slip away and spun around, my slick sweat-covered hand reaching outwards towards yours, getting ever father away. I couldn't close my eyes as you fell, heels scraping along the stones and shoulders finally slamming into them closer to the bottom. You tumbled over yourself with a sickening crack and became airborne again, just for a moment, before reaching the bottom and landing headfirst on the sidewalk below. I could hear your neck snap.

My knees collapsed underneath me and I tumbled down a few stairs myself before reaching out and grabbing on, tears blurring my vision as I stopped my descent and was left sprawled across the rock surface. Blinking, I looked down once more, shutting my eyes and screaming as I saw the small stream of red leaking out from your mouth, the base of your neck.

I slammed my fist against the stone, feeling the pain but not caring. I did it again and again and again, repeating my new existence with my hand as my consciousness became hazy. I felt my grip slip and I slid down closer to you as sounds blurred and became nothing. I closed my eyes before I hit the bottom so I wouldn't be able to see the look in your eyes, the expression you had right as I lost my hold on you.

* * *

**A/N: **Don't talk to me about the beach. It rained. Buckets. I had deal with my cro-magnon brother for two days while we had nothing to do. I'm gonna go cry now.

Any suggestions for this? Is it getting repetitive or anything?


	5. Chapter 5

**1:44 in the Afternoon**

My hands were still laced with sweat. I stared them, choking down the dry block in my throat, and wondered why it hadn't disappeared like everything else. Be it blood or water or anything else from that sight, it should've been gone by now. I was used to tears and sticky hairlines when I woke; they were just the normal results of 'nightmares' for me. But this was the first time that something I remembered remained, transcending the warp and rewind that undid everything.

The significance of this didn't really sink in at the moment, for my hands were quickly covering my face, becoming wetter still with a different form of liquid. Snarling out tears, I cursed myself for being so weak, for breaking down like a child, but at the same time I couldn't stop. Just like the hours and days my mind seemed to be on constant repeat, looping around thoughts of eternity spent like this, in my own little hell, watching you die right in front of me day after day. Each second I spent silently screaming was occupied with trying to stop. Each moment of control was only met with the scream building up inside me and bursting out again, restarting the cycle.

After a while I got out of bed, getting dressed, still shuttering and sniffling and hating myself for it. I left the house without a word and shakily made my way along the streets, focusing more on composure than speed. I was pretty sure that you wouldn't breathe your last breath without me being there to see it and if you did, well, there was always tomorrow to try again.

My lips pressed into a thin line at that thought. When did I become so morbid? I tried to fight the pressing sigh that came with that realization, but didn't have the energy. Moving my legs forward I arrived at the now-familiar park and didn't halt under the tree, just continued onward to you and sat down without a greeting.

You furrowed your eyebrows. "Hey, is something wrong?" I smiled hesitantly and patted the cat again, my fingers running over the notch in one of his ears that I had discovered two times ago. Or was it three? I couldn't remember.

"No," I murmured and swung gently. "It's just a little hot out." You laughed and glanced up at the scorching sun. A bead of sweat dribbled down your neck.

"Well, you should expect as much," your voice was clear and high like always, similar to a caged canary. "It's the middle of August." The effect those words had on me you didn't seem to notice. I sunk deeper into the swing seat, my fingers tangling in the chains again. That statement practically seemed mocking.

"It's a stray, right?" I changed the line of conversation. You glanced at me surprised and tapped the feline once on the nose as you nodded. "Why are you holding it then?"

You shrugged and pulled it closer. "It seemed a little lonely, just wandering around and looking at people expectantly. I saw it walk around the same block three times, just looking for something to do." You stroked its glossy black fur down its back, smoothing it and instigating a small purr. Eyes half lidded, you smiled almost knowingly. "I didn't want anything bad to happen to it so…I decided to protect it for a while."

The cat's golden gaze settled on me for a moment before the animal leapt out of your arms and slunk away into the shade. You kept smiling and stood. "It's keeps doing that. I don't think it understands what I'm trying." I caught your arm before you could take a step. Your gaze on mine was level, steady, and it took me a second to think.

"Why don't we-" If we followed the cat, there was the truck. If we walked, there was the pole. The bus would've crashed. If we ran we would've just found another place for it to end.

"-Just stay here?"

You pouted. "Did you not just hear my whole speel about that cat?" I cocked my head to the side, trying to seem aloof and unaffected.

"What's more important, the cat or being with me?" You didn't even seem to think about it, although your voice seemed flustered and your eyes introversive.

"The cat of course." I blinked once but didn't let go and you eventually sighed, sitting down again. "Well what do you want to do?"

_I don't know. I don't care. Just don't go anywhere. _"How's your summer been?" I asked even though I already knew the answer. You swung gently began the speech I had already heard, a few variations here and there.

"And Miku's being really creepy," you rambled boredly. "She's practically stalking my cousin." I raised an eyebrow at the thought of the popular girl peering in windows and snapping photos of an unsuspecting little blonde boy. It sent shivers down my spine but warmed me slightly. It was creepy, but normal creepy. I was about to respond when I blinked for just a second and you were halfway across the clearing.

"Rin!" I called in alarm, instantly jumping up and chasing after your retreating back. You wound through the trees, following small side paths I didn't know existed. I called for you the whole time, pushing myself forward but getting caught on low-lying branches that held me back. Practically ripping the limbs to shreds I pushed out into a courtyard of sorts, looking around wildly. You turned around, just a few feet away, from a colorful cart. With a smile a cone of ice cream was thrust into my face and I could feel the coolness of the cream radiating and chilling my skin. I wrapped a hand around it and looked at you, my head dizzy with adrenaline.

"I knew there was an ice cream cart around here." You shrugged and moved to the shade of a large fountain. "Seemed like a good day for some." It took effort to make my legs move over to you and to restrain myself from screaming out in stress. The image of your running back still burned in my mind and as I stared at the melting dessert in my hand, not feeling up to eating it, it seemed brighter than even the midsummer sun above us.

You licked away at the cream, not talking but making satisfied sounds, your boredom and irritation with me seeming to have been subdued. I took a bite of mine. It was probably good but I wouldn't have known. I couldn't taste it. My mouth felt like hot sand.

I watched the ice cream peddler wander around, enticing nearby children with the promise of sweet cold refreshment. Many a tantrum were thrown, many a face covered in chocolate syrup as I sat there, letting the dessert melt over my hand until I threw it away, keeping one eye on you as you crunched away at the remainder of the cone.

The park was a still kind of peaceful, with the wildlife and people determining for the most part that it was too hot to go out and do anything. Not even birds chirped. The only kind of sound was the haunting hum of crickets; a sort of natural symphony.

"I need to go home soon." You took a look at your watch and glanced at me implicitly. "My mom will be worrying." I glanced into the summer sky and saw the sun beginning its descent to the west. It must have been sometime in the later afternoon. It was the latest time I had seen in days.

I gestured forward, meaning that you should lead the way. "I'll take you there."  
"Such a gentleman lately," you murmured and smiled coyly. I shrugged and followed you as you began walking. I didn't realize until we were at the main street that at some point your hand had found its way into mine.

We went through the city with minimal conversation, you leading the way and me keeping an eye on the traffic, the people, and the sky overhead. I walked briskly to keep myself right next to you, hopefully there at a moment's notice. Cars hummed heatedly in the roads, windows seemed to be melting in the heat. It was the height of the afternoon and the world felt like haze of melted metal and shimmering concrete. Striding past an electronics store I vaguely heard a weather person remark that the temperature today was record-breaking, phenomenal, even more so than the rest of the week; the hottest this city has ever been.

I only realized we had reached your building when you pulled us into the shade of it and suddenly the doors opened, sending a breath of air-conditioning onto us. With a deep inhale you pulled us inside and the cool surrounded us, seeming frigid and unnatural against my burnt skin. The floor was a glossy marble, radiating chills, and the wall were high and white, with impressive gold molding. A staircase wound upwards in the center of the lobby and elevator doors were lined against opposite walls. I never knew where you live and even then as I looked up into all the obvious wealth of the place I realized I had no idea how your family could afford to live in a place like this.

I glanced over at you, taking in the appearance of one who I really knew nothing about. We were almost strangers, only meeting in class until now. I didn't know your birthday or your favorite color or anything. I knew nothing about you. So why was it that I felt like we were so close? Why was it that when you led us over an elevator and separated our hands I felt sad, even though I knew you were likely headed to safety?

Why were we holding hands anyway?

"I'll see you around." I could only nod in response and you smiled again, that same smile that always seemed carefree but a little melancholy at the same time. Pressing a button your lips turned down slightly and your eyes met with mine again. I felt a little lightheaded as I stood there, the realization seeming to dawn on me that up there, away from me, with your parents, something might change. Still looking at me you took a small step forward and spoke just before the doors cut off your words.

"Just let it go."

I knitted my eyebrows and let a syllable slip out before I realized that you could no longer hear me. With a crack of my neck I waited there for a second, thinking, before turning around and taking a few steps across the marble. I kept my eyes lowered so I couldn't see the blazing light outside the front windows, too hot to imagine going back into. My footsteps echoed throughout the empty room, getting louder and louder until they sounded like one continuously falling shriek, hitting against the ground every single second until they suddenly leveled out into dazed silence.

I didn't need to turn around to know that it wasn't my feet that had been making the screeching noise, but I did anyway. My eyes came to rest on the doors of the lift, still the same sleek gold sheen, and the lights of the buttons around it, black and dead, and the arrow that marked the floor level, fallen to the basement marking. I didn't need to stand there and wait until a mechanics worker ran down the stairs, calling into his radio for assistance, but I did. In fact, I stood there until it felt like the empty marble room had sucked all the heat out of me.

Only then did I face the doors again and continue walking, the echoes of my footsteps sounding too quiet now as the distant light of the sun through the windows vanished.

* * *

**A/N: **Gaaaaah so uninspired. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Maybe once I start up a new story I'll feel a little more...um...willing to write, but until then...

Uck, I hate feeling like this :/


	6. Chapter 6

**12:45 in the Afternoon**

I didn't let my consciousness drift, and my eyes opened the moment the lobby faded to black. I breathed in, feeling a strange wave of icy calm wash over me, numbing my insides and flushing out deep thought. It seemed to be an aftereffect of that cold room, that I couldn't find any kind of spark within me. Was it because I didn't actually see you die? I only knew that behind those sleek metal doors was a crumpled mass of broken elevator bits with you crushed somewhere in the middle? Did that numb me somehow? Snap something that released the mental equivalent of Novocain?

I smoothed the covers down the front of me, not finding any ambition to get up. My thoughts wandered lightly around, touching on memories without delving too deep, not touching emotions. I thought of the past days, how whenever we avoided disaster, some other tragedy always managed to sneak its way in. If I had not let you on that elevator, would you have survived the stairs? Or would you just have tripped and fallen again? Was there really any way to get you up there to your home? Perhaps. But what were the chances of that being safe? There would be a gas leak, or a fire, and something would fall and block your front door…

My head turned to the side, taking in the usual time and date and finding myself only mildly disillusioned. Did I really have to do this again? And again? How many times would I have to reach out my hand only to feel gore splatter across it?

The room seemed too quiet, a gentle lullaby-like screaming barely heard in the silent corners of my mind. I felt the ice still encompassing me, promoting thought, but underneath there was still something else. A bloodstained wreck of a thing that just wanted to run and run and run.

I sat up, finding the haze lift a little bit. I glanced over at the clock again, watching the seconds tick by, and wondering irrationally if I was already too late. Of course I wasn't. You would still be sitting there, waiting for a witness.

_A witness to what? _I swung my feet out and stood. _What exactly is all of this? _Robotic movements put my clothes on and stared into the mirror, seeing the same tired expression I had observed for the past reiterating forever. _Why does it keep happening? Shouldn't you just die and be over with it? Why do you come back?_

I lifted my head up, meeting gazes with myself. There was something off about the way I looked. I seemed older. Thoughtful. Quieter. It looked like someone who had seen too much to speak of. All the same, it looked like me, and I knew that gleam in my eye, that way my mouth was set.

* * *

"Hey Piko," you said cheerily again as I sat on the swing. I barely noticed the burn of the seat, it was in the back of my mind, quietly asking to be heard, but all the same ignored. There were many things stuck back there, needing attention, trying to distract, but I didn't acknowledge them. They were quietly chirping, like the hum of the crickets in the background. _Hey. Hey did you think about-? What if-? Are you-?_

I turned and smiled lightly as you said something to me. I hadn't heard it, but I didn't need to. You asked the same question every day. "I was just wandering around. There isn't much to do." You chuckled at my response, petting the cat that occupied your lap. My eyes drifted down to it with a hazy recollection and my head tiled as a question formed, falling off my tongue easily. "Whose cat is that?"

"It's a stray. I found it roving around." Smiles covered the faces of both you and the cat as you readjusted him in your arms. I blinked once, keeping a numb yet easy smile.

"You know, it's dangerous to play with random street animals."

You stood, your sound of displeasure left in your wake, and strode into the shade, taking a wooded side path that I had almost forgotten about. Wrapping my hands around the chains of the swing, I pulled myself up and followed you, my feet moving just fast enough to catch up as you reached the end of the trail, an intersection looming ahead, hazy from sunlight and smelling of tar.

Something in the corner of my consciousness screamed something at me as I stood there, another one whispering a memory, but I paid neither of them any attention. Smiling at you, I slouched slightly and let my shoulders hang, not answering right away when you questioned me, a frown tugging at the edges of your mouth.

"What's wrong? You seem kinda down." I shrugged, pulling a hand out of my pocket and looking at it, seeing the intricate way lines and calluses weaved across my skin. The sun struck it from straight overhead, leaving no shadows, no guesses about what it looked like, just the plain and honest truth. Reality.

I reached over, my fingers hovering inches away from the flattened ears of a black tomcat, and shrugged again, the world suddenly seeming all-around too bright, too loud, too real. My eyes meet yours for a spilt second, a striking shade of ice blue, before they closed.  
"I haven't been very happy lately," I stated coolly as I felt the cat recoil under my touch. "You see, I really hate summertime."

You gave a gasp as the animal leapt out of your grasp, daintily dancing across the concrete to step down onto the road, trotting across without a look either way. Your hand was the one that reached out this time, stretching for it, but being grabbed suddenly, a stain of surprise showing in your expression. I turned my gaze quickly away from you, determining not to break the moment, not to waste time on decoding the tilt of your eyebrows, and pushed at you, the force transferring through our fingers and down your arm until you stumbled backwards with a display of waving arms.

My eyes were closed for a moment as I was propelled forward, feeling the sticky air whip past me at an almost calming speed. I could smell the scorched tar, the scent of roasting garbage; I could feel the places on my hand where yours had intertwined with mine just a moment ago; and as I lifted my lids I could see the gleam of metal hurtling towards me, coming too fast to make out a definite shape.

My head spun as I fell back, the spinning flight of a fallen leaf above me seeming very interesting and leisurely. Light flickered and I was on the ground, staring back the way I came. The black top under me was vaguely hot, I could feel my skin frying as if it were a call from far away. With a breath my vision focused slightly, illuminating the space in front of me. A figure still stood there, shaking with wide eyes, an extended hand clenching into an untidy fist.

I could only see you for a few seconds as a familiar nothingness came over me, dying the edges of my perception in obscure shadows. I held onto you as long as I could, watching, hoping, waiting for something to happen, to see some glory, some sign that I had done the right thing. But I saw nothing, only the way your stance became rigid and cold, your mouth turning down and eyes blazing almost as if you were angry.

* * *

**A/N: **One more chapter. Well, kinda. It's pretty short.

Anyway, off to write something else. Probably return to my lovely Kaito and Miku. Can't seem to stay away from them for very long...


	7. Chapter 7

**August 15****th**

On some fifteenth day of some eighth month in some era of time a girl woke up in her bed. She wasn't surprised at the way tears quickly bubbled up from the corners of her eyes and trailed down her face. She didn't try to stop them either. She didn't glance at the clock – she didn't need to – as she sat up, absentmindedly reaching downwards to pull something soft and warm into her arms. It mewed and she held it closer, feeling the steady beating of its tiny heart.

On that fifteenth day of some eighth month in some era of time a boy was also waking up in his bed, confused and haunted by phantom pains, slowly coming to a realization that drew him to jump upwards with purpose, but fall back again with despair, a wave of reality crashing down on him too hard to bear.

The girl knew that the boy was awake that morning, and she was dreadfully aware of her own awakedness, the bright sun outside seeming to mock her efforts at preventing such a thing. She knew that at some point on this day the two of them would meet up, and they would talk, and they would have fun, and then they would die. One of them would, she knew; however, this time was different from the others. This time she was not quite sure who it would be.

"I failed again." Her head leaned against the window pane, feeling how the sun had already heated the glass through. She drew back her curtains farther, still sitting upright amidst her covers, and staring out over the sun-struck city she lived in. Her eyes followed paths she knew, and the road she would take today. That road lead to a lovely little park. She would wait there, for the boy, swinging aimlessly, and thinking out new routes through the city, new places they could go on their last day together.

It was, after all, their last day.

* * *

**A/N: **And so that day will repeat again and again and again and again, with the boy trying to save the girl and the girl thwarting his efforts so that he can survive...true love if you ask me ;)

I'm starting Marionette so keep a look out for that. *glances at giant list of to-be-written ideas* *wince* *types a sentence* Uhggggg...-_-


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